Ritz-Carlton, Regent International Inaugurating New Presidents

<B>Ritz-Carlton, Regent International Inaugurating New Presidents</B>

Signaling a new generation of leadership at the helm of two well-known deluxe hotel brands, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and Regent International Hotels have installed new presidents, Simon Cooper and Thomas Huffsmith, respectively. In both cases, the new leaders are being asked to accelerate the pace of development, and maintain their brands' reputation for stellar guest service.

At Ritz-Carlton, Cooper last week was named president and COO, replacing long-time president Horst Schulze. Most recently, Cooper was president of Marriott Lodging Canada, which, like Ritz-Carlton, is part of Marriott International. The appointment is effective Feb. 16.

In relinquishing day-to-day operational responsibility for the brand, Schulze will become Ritz-Carlton's vice chairman. He will be involved in global development, owner relations and brand strategy. "Considering Horst's legacy, it would be foolish to think anyone coming into the president's position would risk tinkering with such a superior service culture," Cooper said. "Senior level business travelers are an important market segment for Ritz-Carlton and superior consistency is something they depend on to a great degree as do frequent travelers generally. The company has been very successful in providing this consistency of experience, and that will continue."

Ritz-Carlton is in the midst of a large-scale expansion, which Cooper is committed to continuing. Including resort properties, the chain is expected to grow from 38 hotels today to nearly 60 by 2003. In this regard, Cooper has had the right experience for the job. In his three years as president of Marriott Lodging Canada, the number of Marriott-branded hotels in the country jumped to more than 30 from seven. Prior to joining Marriott, Cooper served as president and COO of Delta Hotels & Resorts, which also is based in Canada.

At Regent, Huffsmith's appointment as president took effect at the start of this month. He comes to Regent, the luxury brand of Carlson Hotels Worldwide, from Bass Hotels & Resorts, where he was the London-based senior vice president of development and investments for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The president's position had been vacant. Prior to his stint at Bass, Huffsmith specialized in hotel investments at LaSalle Partners and the Prudential Realty Group.

Regent-worthy service, to Huffsmith, means anticipating guests' needs and then exceeding their expectations. "We know that business guests have higher expectations than ever before, and hotel services that were once rare are now expected," he said, citing such amenities as easily accessible business services, a health club and high-speed Internet connectivity. In addition to continuing to provide superior service, Huffsmith said, "We hope to double the number of hotels to 26 in the next 12 months. There's also the possibility that we could acquire a group of hotels, which would greatly increase our growth in a fairly short time."

Given their mix of city center properties and full-service resorts, Ritz-Carlton and Regent are both in the enviable position of being able to satisfy all aspects of their high-end clienteles' travel needs. "Senior-level business travelers today tend to be under such time pressure that the distinction between business and leisure travel often blurs," Cooper said.

This creates a special challenge for deluxe hotels. "It means our hotels need to be functional for the business traveler," Huffsmith said, "but also experiential for the leisure traveler.